More Musings

Thank God for healthy bodies—today I picked up an ant with my index finger and thumb, thinking it was a crumb I had dropped from my plate of cake. I spent the next 15 minutes feeling (tripping) as my body fought away the sting and my hand became red and then white and then normal goldy-peach. Amazing. What an amazing machine.

Now that I've been to 5 birthday parties, I think I can almost certainly say: birthday parties here require only: chicken balls (kind of triangular in shape), soft (cheesy) bread, and cake. Maybe beer (Skoll is preferred). The TV stays on in case of a lull in the conversation, during which everyone faces to watch the show (usually Passióne) avidly.

The Interior

I spent the weekend in Cabaceiras do Paraguacu, the interior of my host mother. That’s usually how it’s explained (As in, “Oh, last weekend we went to Carol’s interior"). It refers to where the family-base is, usually where Christmases are spent and the grandparents (and a few bachelor uncles, maybe) still live. The whole family wanted me to notice how big the house was (and it was…about 9 or 11 beds, I think) compared with the smaller apartment I live in in the city. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve had urbanization explained to me, but it felt a little different when I knew the names of the players.

I swam in the rio, ate fish with my fingers and took several naps, because, as it was explained to me, "Rachel, there’s nothing to do here. Sleep." Then I woke up, ate some crackers with my host mom’s dad and then sat on the sofa and held hands with my host mom’s mother (Da Da) as she made plans for my next visit to see her.


I visited the museum for the poet and abolitionist Antonio Frederico de Castro Alves, who was born in Cabaceiras. He had quite a few lovers. Their pictures covered a whole wall in the museum. This might explain why:

AS DUAS FLORES

São duas flores unidas
São duas rosas nascidas
Talvez do mesmo arrebol,
Vivendo,no mesmo galho,
Da mesma gota de orvalho,
Do mesmo raio de sol.

Unidas, bem como as penas
das duas asas pequenas
De um passarinho do céu...
Como um casal de rolinhas,
Como a tribo de andorinhas
Da tarde no frouxo véu.

Unidas, bem como os prantos,
Que em parelha descem tantos
Das profundezas do olhar...
Como o suspiro e o desgosto,
Como as covinhas do rosto,
Como as estrelas do mar.

Unidas... Ai quem pudera
Numa eterna primavera
Viver, qual vive esta flor.
Juntar as rosas da vida
Na rama verde e florida,
Na verde rama do amor!

Ilha de Maré

The above picture is my host dad number 2 (I have one host family in the city, Salvador, and I had one for the three days I spent on the island) He makes baskets to sell at the open air market on the mainland. He also sells fruit on the island and owns 2 bars and a small grocery store, as far I as I could tell. My mother, Lia, cooked me lovely clams and mussels that my host brother caught. I convinced him to take me “fishing” the next day and he explained to me how to tell which bubbles indicated which species (Rachel, each animal has a special breath that tells you where he is. Don’t you see?) I didn’t, but I did enjoy the fact that he called an oyster, “he”. In Portuguese, they don’t use a word for “it”, they use “he” or “she”, depending on the gender of the noun. (I can’t keep from laughing, for example, when people refer to their doctoral thesis as “him”)

I also was able to shadow the community health agent, Maria, as she walked around her designated community to weigh babies. For the first 18 months, the community agent monitors the weight of babies and watches for normal development benchmarks. They use the verb “acompanhar”—to accompany the baby. Much nicer than “monitor”. In the Brazilian health system, a community member is paid by the government (federal, state and municipal) to be the bridge between the community and the medical providers. Agents do not prescribe medicine or diagnose disease, but they do keep track of families, convince people to seek care, dispense condoms and water purifying pills, and take charge of prevention and education campaigns. Each agent is usually responsible for a few hundred families. The community agent program is fantastically successful, especially in rural areas, because the agent not only knows the community members, but is a member of the community. In Maria’s case, she is beloved, beyond a shadow of a doubt. And because we were with her, we were loved too. Maria told us it is remarkable how the islanders accept gringos now that there have been so many positive experiences with SIT students staying on the island, doing research and helping at the medical clinic or schools. She said before there was a feeling of inferiority among the islanders and they would rather not engage with outsiders, but now, because of the good work of previous students, conversation isn’t particularly hard to ignite. And so we reaped the benefits of respectful people who came and stayed and ate and asked questions before us. Thank God for people who do it well.

Portuguese class, alternatively titled: making balloon animals for one's host brother is both fun and rewarding

*Minha Filha/Meu Filho= Doesn't translated directly to "my daughter/son" in conversation. Proof? A seven year old called me his daughter yesterday.
*A gente- Means the people or we or us. Cool.
*Volta sempre- Come back (always) also common for people to say "appear more here, please"
*Segura pra mim- On the bus, it isn't uncommon for someone to offer to hold your bags for you while you're standing so you can hold on better. FINALLY happened to me last week. What if I did this on the subway?
*Eu matei quem estava me matando- I killed who was killing me. One uses this after one eats very quickly and desperately. Preceded by a sigh.

Note: host brother is 33. May or may not be named Fabrício.

Parabéns pra voce

I also just need someone to be proud of two major life events:

1. I know how to wash laundry by hand



2. I made a lovely dessert for my host family...only the best from America

Turned on the TV for the first time

My host mother came into my room yesterday to address something that had been worrying her, "Rachel, why don't you ever turn on the television?" They very kindly provided me with a room with a giant television, and I had apparently offended them by not using it. So, I turned it on to watch the election results. Of course, most talk is of the run-off election on October 31st. In my family, like on tv, the general conversation is regarding, "who will Marina Silva support?"--because whoever she supports, everyone agrees, will win. I'm excited for another month of televised candidate debates. (And for more campaign pamphlets littering the street. I collect them, because I'm a nerd, and so it really does look like Christmas to me)



Also in political news:
1. A professional clown (palhaco) won a state representative seat in Sao Paulo. He may not get to keep it, though, because there's a lot of talk that he's illiterate (analfabeto) and didn't make this fact known during the campaign.
2. Though it is mandatory to vote in Brazil, you can vote in your current city or where you were born. My host mom returned to "the interior" to vote on Sunday because she wanted to vote for her cousin, who is a local candidate. My host sister votes in the interior, too, but since she didn't want to travel, she just had to go to a local voting point and "justificar" her vote--eg. make her excuse official. If you're in the hospital during elections, you need a doctor's note.

The news reports also included a study on growing obesity rates in Brazil (developed country...ahh!) as well as what to do with their aging population, and how to change the cultural norm of not saving for retirement or the future.